Monaco motorhomes began life as the Caribou Manufacturing Company way back in 1968. They began by building pickup campers, similar in design to what we now refer to as “Toyota Motorhomes”. The most popular line was named “Monaco” and in 1977 the company name was changed to Monaco Coach Corporation to reflect the change in direction. This emphasis on Class A motorhomes solidified in 1984 when Monaco acquired the Roadmaster Chassis Division of Chrysler Corporation. The purchase of the Holiday Rambler Division of Harley-Davidson in 1996 began the consolidation of the RV manufacturing market that continues to this day.

Now owned by Allied Specialist Vehicles, Monaco shares its parent with American Coach, Fleetwood RV and, of course, Holiday Rambler. The current model range is

Corporate History

1996 marked the beginning of a period of what was to be unsustainable expansion. The Monaco Coach Corporation acquired from Harley-Davidson, Inc. certain assets of Holiday Rambler and the assumption of most of the liabilities of Holiday Rambler. Concurrently, the Company acquired ten Holiday World Dealerships. In 2005, the company had sales of approximately US$1.2 billion, and employed nearly 5,400 people.

Just 4 years later, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Bearing in mind that Holiday Rambler no longer existed as a company, a fate soon to be lived out by Monaco, in 2009 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, an attorney for Monaco said the company had signed an asset purchase agreement with Workhorse International Holding Co., a subsidiary of Navistar International. The Chapter 11 filing was converted to a Chapter 7 case and factories, inventory, brands and intellectual property were sold to Navistar International Corp. The RV resort properties in California, Nevada, Florida and Michigan were sold to various other buyers.

Once the remaining assets had been liquidated under Chapter 7, “the entity ceases to exist,” and effectively spelt the end of Monaco Coach Corporation. Monaco RV LLC was sold by Navistar International Corp. to Allied Specialty Vehicles in 2013, the current owners.

Service

As mentioned on the Holiday Rambler page, Allied Specialty Vehicles has state-of-the-art Service Centres for both Holiday Rambler and Monaco Motorhomes. They are ideally located and suited to do: collision work, restorations,major and minor repairs, rebuilds and annual maintenance.

Conclusion

While we really like the craftsmanship that obviously goes into the Monaco motorhomes, like all Class A motorhomes they are not really for us. They are just too big.

As well as their size limitations, particularly for shipping purposes, they do not appear to be suited for poor roads, having what seems to be a very low ground clearance and significant weight. The weight factor could also prove quite difficult to ship.

Also, the recent instability in ownership causes us some doubt as to whether or not a Monaco motor home would be easily serviced in the years to come, particularly outside the US